Angry Bird
by bluejay
Summary: It's 'Bring Your Kid to Work Day' and Black Canary has decided to take Superboy. Unfortunately, Green Arrow isn't far behind.  Collab work: Grim Lullaby and bluejay
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Collaboration done between me and Grim Lullaby for the Ultimate Collab Challenge on the YJ discussion forums.

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><p>Sure, it was a nice gesture and all, seeing as how Superman wanted nothing to do with the clone. Ollie could respect that. Really, he could. He wasn't altogether insensitive. And sure, he didn't mind that Superboy would now have someone to spend time with during what would be a lonely day stuck in a cave. It was a nice, thoughtful gesture of making at least one kid happy.<p>

It was also a strategic move that meant Ollie would have to take the backseat.

Because there they were: the pretty bird and the clone, happily puttering about in a pollen-polluted shop; just the two of them. And really, the clone shouldn't have needed _all_ of her attention, right? It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how to place an uprooted plant in a flower pot and toss some dirt on it. Anyone with two hands and two cells in their brain could do that.

And here _he_ was - brilliant, handsome, and charismatic owner of Queen Industries - stuck in an ice cream parlour while the pretty bird played florist with the clone.

He frowned when Superboy accidentally crushed another flower pot. He remembered the last time _he'd _broken something in Dinah's shop and she'd nearly shattered his eardrums. Instead, Dinah just laughed and handed Conner - Ollie was pretty sure that was the name they'd given the clone - another pot, smiled, and placed a small bush neatly centred. It was very. Unfair.

"You have weird taste." Roy was saying in the seat across from his.

"And your taste is _boring._" Artemis shot back.

Ollie felt his eye twitch. He was definitely regretting bringing both protégés today. They just _wouldn't _shut up! It was like their lips were powered by the Energizer bunny; they just kept on and on and on...

He glanced at the quarrelling pair for a moment before turning back to his binoculars so he could continue observing Dinah. Humph. Some people were just so...so..._undeserving_.

"I could still shoot more arrows than you given the same time limit." Artemis was fairly spitting in anger.

"Sure, by _one_ arrow." Roy scoffed, arms crossed over his chest. "I've got the better aim."

"Quiet down you two," Ollie muttered, eyes still glued to the binoculars. Conner was holding up a handful of daisies. "They're talking again."

Artemis snorted, something she did rather often when she thought _someone _was being ridiculous. "You can't even hear what they're saying. Why do we have to be quiet?" Their table jerked as she suddenly jumped, bumping her knees against the edge. She spun on the third occupant of their booth, growling, "And don't you pinch me, carrot top."

"He says to be quiet, maybe you should follow his advice," came Roy's retort.

"Shush! I need to concentrate. Read their lips." Ollie could practically feel the both of them rolling their eyes. They couldn't even agree on agreeing. He shook his head and made another attempt to focus on what Dinah was telling Sup- Conner. Not that he could actually read their lips. It was more like he made things up for them to say. Most of which involved him being rather dashing.

_Ollie's a good man,_ she'd say, _He's kind, handsome, intelligent, and he's got silky hair I'm itching to run my hands through! Any woman would fall for a guy like him..._

Ah, yes. That had definitely be what she was saying.

There, she was speaking again! That sounds like a...

_Wa...ter...Watermelon? What does a watermelon have to do with flower arranging?_

"It's not like you can tell from here anyway," Artemis grumbled. She folded her arms across her chest and slid down into her seat, sulking. She was motionless for a few seconds before jostling Roy's arm whenever he got too close to her side of the booth; which happened to be a lot. Naturally, her nudging meant he had to nudge her back - more like shove her into the wall.

Thankfully, the waitress returned to their table before a real fight broke out, arms filled with several platters of food. She placed the dishes in front of them and glanced at the three occupants: two scowling teenagers and one blond guy with binoculars staring out the window. She nervously hugged the tray to herself as she asked,. "Uh, would you guys like anything else?" Her lips twitched as if she wanted to stop smiling and just get out of there as soon as possible.

Ollie waved her away before Roy could pour on the charm. The boy was notorious for hitting on the pretty ladies - something he probably picked up from Ollie. Ollie would've been proud if it wasn't for the fact that Roy seemed to be getting more attention than him. It was so unfair.

He blindly patted the table for the nearest dish, not wanting to look away from Dinah and the boy. He was really starting to dislike this kid. He was all brawn and no flair! So what if he was cloned from the big guy himself? Ollie grabbed whatever it was off the first plate he found and shoved it into his mou- EW! He dropped the binoculars in an attempt to scrape his tongue clean of-

He glared at the red circles neatly arranged in a line. They didn't take the tomato slices off the plate!

Ollie gagged a final time and scowled at the two giggling teenagers sitting across from him. Well, it was more Artemis who was giggling. Roy was at least trying to hide the need to laugh.

"Alright, you two." His voice was as stern and commanding as he could make it, "No switching the plates."

"It's not our fault we're bored." Roy answered with a shrug.

"Yeah, you've been acting like a stalker all day. Not that this isn't interesting but my butt fell asleep an hour ago.," Artemis added. She shifted in her seat, huffing, and rested her head on the table, her crossed arms acting as cushions.

Ollie frowned, as he reached down and picked his binoculars up from under the table. Seeing that the lens in the right scope was broken, he sighed and placed the binoculars into his 'work bag', settling himself into just watching the pretty bird and the clone. Not for the first time he envied the metas with supervision.

_-Wait... What?_ He spotted a tall man in a leather jacket and cliché ripped jeans swaggering down the sidewalk. The man had a muscular build, tattooed arms, and greasy hair that looked like he hadn't bathed in two days. Ollie didn't like how he looked. Ollie liked it even less when the man bumped into a little old woman and shoved her to one side while telling her off. The man was obviously a no-good punk. Ollie watched the old woman for a while to be sure she was alright then-

His head whipped back to the florist shop where Dinah was helping Superboy put up the window display. The tattooed man had moved in front of the flower shop and was... Ollie wasn't sure what he was doing but it definitely wasn't gentlemanly. Well, Ollie may not be a gentleman but he was sure making rude gestures in public isn't on the list of things a gentleman would do.

_Please don't let him notice her, please don't let him notice her..._ he chanted mentally then paused. Wait a minute, what if the man - who was obviously high on something - did notice Dinah and made some trouble? It'd give Ollie an excuse to come rushing right to her rescue and she'd fall at his feet in adoration, wouldn't she? Yes, she probably would. _Please notice her and make trouble, please notice her and make trouble..._

To his delight, the man _did _notice her and he _did_ want to instigate some trouble, judging by the leer on his face and the increasingly rude gestures he was making. Unnoticed by the tattooed man, Ollie answered with a sneer of his own.

He pocketed the binoculars and stood up from the booth. "Come on, kids. We've got butt to kick."


	2. Chapter 2

Even from his spot by the entrance to the ice cream parlour, Ollie was gleefully watching the tattooed man boldly enter Dinah's flower shop. He straightened his back and checked to make sure his bow was ready for use.

Then he started to take a step towards the shop.

He had it all planned out in his head: Bad guy would be making inappropriate advances on her, he'd come swooping in like her knight in a green hood and shiny blond hair; he'd beat the bad guy, and she'd give him that adoring gaze and...well, you get the picture.

But his luck wasn't working right that day.

He hadn't even reached the street when the tattooed man came flying out the door. And then there was Superboy, perpetual scowl grown more intense on his face. Ollie was beginning to think the clone'd get a jump start on developing heat vision with the frequency of his glares..

But, back to the tattooed man. Ollie had to give it to the man; even punched out by the clone of Superman with all the inherent super-strength, the man was back on his feet and itching for a fight within seconds. Given that he was high on drugs, Ollie knew the man would be mostly impervious now but he _will _be feeling the abuse in a couple of hours. There was a faint crunch as the man stupidly blocked Superboy's right hook with his open palm. Yep, he'll definitely be feeling the pain later.

For now, Ollie will just have to content himself with providing support to the enraged clone. He could always claim that his being there helped Superboy restrain himself from doing something bad.

He readied a trick arrow that would release a cloud of knock-out gas upon impact and wondered absently if it would be enough to put a doped adult to sleep in seconds. He figured it probably wouldn't hurt to try.

One well-aimed arrow, a gas cloud that briefly covered the man, and three seconds later; it was obvious to Ollie that one wasn't enough and only served to bring the man's attention to him. Ollie wasn't worried though. What can one doped up adult do against three expert archers?

A lot, it turns out.

The confrontation happened on two sidewalks across each other with an open road in between. The Arrows were safely staying put on one, while their prey attempted to cross the street to get to them - at the same time a car came speeding through the empty road.

At almost the last second, its driver managed to spin the car and avoid hitting the man. But the tires skidded and sent the car sliding towards the ice cream parlour.

The Arrows scattered.

Ollie dove left; a quick glance showed that Roy followed his direction. And Artemis?

He spotted Superboy standing by the hood of the car - the clone must have stopped the car from skidding further. Then his "niece's" blond head bobbed on the other side of the stalled car. Ollie started to call to her-

-He was suddenly shoved to the ground. Ollie looked up at Roy who held a trick-arrowhead in his hand.

"I'm out of your shadow and I still have to watch your back." The youth muttered, lobbing the arrowhead at the oncoming figure of the tattooed man.

The arrowhead exploded just before impact - wrapping the man in a net of black cords that sent him falling to the road.

Ollie grinned and started picking himself up. "Thanks, Roy-"

"Don't." The bitter tone in his first protégé's voice strangled whatever he was about to say. "Just...don't."

There was a world of hurt in that voice, and Ollie wanted to offer comfort to the youth - the first kid he'd raised, his first trainee - but he didn't know what to say. The words wouldn't come.

"Are you boys done?" His grin widened at the woman's voice interrupting them.

Ollie quickly turned to face Dinah, relieved that he and Roy wouldn't have to hash out their problems in public this soon. "Pretty bird! We were uh, in the neighbourhood."

She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "And what would the owner of Queen Industries be interested in this part of town?"

"Well, uh..."

"They were in the ice cream shop," Superboy offered, coming up to stand beside her. "I saw them when we were re-potting the azaleas."

Dinah's steely blue eyes flashed dangerously. "You were spying on me?"

Ollie raised his hands in surrender, not wanting to be another victim of the restrained Canary Cry in her voice. "Now now, pretty bird, I was just...admiring...from afar."

"And that's where you're staying if you're going to keep stalking me! If I said it once, I've said it a hundred times, _mind your own business._" She spun on her heel and stalked back to her shop, leaving Ollie to stare at her in embarrassment.

"Ouch. Busted." Roy commented with a wince and a smirk.

"You just had to mention that we were in the shop," Artemis was aiming a calculating look at Superboy.

The clone merely shrugged. "He had it coming."

END


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